The Westport Library Resource Guides: Cake Decorating: About

Cake Decorating for Beginners

A Guide to Cake Frosting

Long before plastic wrap, bakers kept cakes fresh by covering their exterior with frosting, a sweet, spreadable topping that would seal the pores of the cake to minimize moisture loss. In the olden days, this was most commonly a very thin layer of hard meringue, which made the cakes look pretty cool, literally, as if they were covered by a layer of crackly frost or ice (hence the terms frosting and icing).

Nowadays, frosting is something of an umbrella term used to describe just about anything spread over the exterior of a cake, which has led to a mind-boggling number of recipes that technically qualify as frostings. Raspberry whipped cream? That's a frosting. Whipped ganache? Also a frosting. Swiss meringue? Frosting. American buttercream? You got it: frosting.

The variety may seem a little ridiculous at first, but that only translates to more flexibility in the kitchen. Whether you've run out of powdered sugar, have an egg allergy to deal with, or simply need to use up a jar of honey, there's a frosting that will cater to your needs.

While this is by no means an exhaustive overview of frosting styles, it's a good look at the major players, including the advantages and disadvantages of each as well as special points of consideration in terms of usage and technique. Continue reading from Serious Eats